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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025705">Spaceboy - Introduction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bird_beep1s/pseuds/bird_beep1s'>bird_beep1s</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Invader Zim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, Anxiety, Biological differences, Crash Landing, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Injury Recovery, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, at least for now ;), they're both switches, this will be used for the emotional side of things rather than the explicit activity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:14:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bird_beep1s/pseuds/bird_beep1s</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lost and far from home, Irken Invader Sqit crash lands on a strange planet called "Earth". When they wake up in the dwelling of one of its inhabitants, they can't imagine the horrors that may await them. Greeted with kindness, generosity, and warm bread rolls, they decide that maybe this isn't such a bad situation after all.</p><p>Alien meets man, and hijinks ensue. (Original character/original character)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben (OC)/Sqit (OC), BriSqit, Original Character (Irken)/Original Character, Original Character/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Spaceboy - Introduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Warning bells ring through the ship, rousing an alien from their sleep. The dark veil of hypersleep rises from them as swiftly as they leave their nest, sprinting toward the front of their ship. Their internals stop dead for a moment as the sight of a massive planet fills their field of vision. Frantically, they attack their controls, trying desperately to break course and avoid collision. They are thrown back when they collide with the planet's atmosphere, the entire ship engulfed in flames. The alien is sent flying back. The turbulence sends them tumbling around the ship. There's a hard thud as their head smacks a corner, stars explode behind their eyes, and then that dark veil from before closes its curtains as they, and their ship, hurtle out of control, onto a world they don't know. </em>
</p><p>There's a terrible ache surrounding them, crushing them, as they rouse from unconsciousness. It steals the breath from their carapace and makes every beat of their cardiacal organ rattle through their body. Their eyes are fearful of opening, scared that the terrible damage done to their ship may have rendered life support systems inoperable. They are terrified that they will die on this planet, far from home and alone.</p><p>Taking as deep a breath as they can, they force their eyes open. They lay there, mind scrambled for a bit, as they try their best to understand what is going on. Unless it's running some kind of simulation to put them at ease, or they had conveniently crashed into an alien's dwelling, they...aren't on their ship.</p><p>That terrible thought has them bolting upright and cowering back into the corner, scouring their surroundings and not making sense of <em>any of it.</em> <em>Where is their ship? Why aren't they with their <strong>ship?!</strong></em></p><p>They just about screech in terror as the port to the room opens and a human stands in the doorway. They scramble back, PAK legs activating and finding purchase on the wall, ready to launch at their attacker or scurry up and away at the first sign of a threat. They feel no more pain, not at the moment. Apparently, their mind has a way of suppressing any messages sent from their nerves to block out pain in times of crises. What an interesting concept. </p><p>The human balks at the being in front of it, apparently shocked out of words for a moment. It stays where it is, but slowly sets down whatever it was holding and sits, palms up. It avoids eye contact and seems to be making itself appear as small as possible. It flinches when the alien hisses at it, their mind trying desperately to process what is going on. </p><p>After minutes of the stalemate, the alien's defenses slowly retract. They cautiously settle back against the corner, watching the human from afar. They examine it, doing what they can to understand their captor. It is a bit shorter than they are, from what they can see. Its carapace is the color of the soil found in oceans, and it has this dark, curly filigree on its head. It seems strong.</p><p>The realization of what it is slowly dawns on them. This being is their <em>captor</em><em>.</em> Did that not mean that they had been abducted?</p><p>The other begins to stand, eyes down and palms up. "I didn't know you were awake. It's good," it states, speaking in a calming sort of voice. "I didn't know if you would."</p><p>They shy away, just slightly, from the being. The humiliation coursing through them at their failure does more to placate them than it ought to, and they allow the human to approach.</p><p>"Can you speak?" it asks, finally reaching the nest and sitting down beside it. Defeated, they nod their head, pain slowly registering to their mind once more. As if this isn't bad enough, their entire body gives a sudden, painful shudder as all of the aforementioned and ignored pain signals flood their mind at once. A high-pitched, soft whine escapes them as the signals engulf their senses. They curl up, their antennae trembling. </p><p>"Shit," the human says, reaching out to touch the alien and comfort them, then thinks better of it and retreats, standing and backing away hurriedly. "I'm gonna go get some pain meds and stitches. Please, don't stress yourself out anymore." He pauses. "You're safe here."</p><p>--</p><p>"Hey, are you okay?"</p><p>The human's words gently pierce the veil of unconsciousness, and the alien is slowly roused from their pain-induced shut-down. They slowly open their eyes, their body giving a rattling growl as they, for a moment, fail to recognize the place they are in. The human backs up immediately, head pointed down and hands up in surrender.</p><p>"Sorry, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that," it cedes, glancing up momentarily to the alien's forehead. "But I'm gonna need to stitch up that cut on your head, and you should take some pain medication. I don't feel comfortable forcing you to take it."</p><p>They slowly raise from their position. The pressure behind their eyes makes them feel as though they are about to burst, and for the first time they notice the state of their attire. The crusted, blue stains left on the nest from where their head had previously laid makes them realize that the human is right. From the scope of their injuries, they are in dire need of medical aid. They grimace.</p><p>Is it worth the risk to allow the human to care for their wounds? He's already abducted them, and until they shed this awful state of being, they won't get very far if they escape. They don't even know, really, how far the human took them from their wrecked ship. The human seems to want to heal them, but what would it want after that? What if this is just some sick work camp for other unlucky invaders who stray too far off course and careen into this blue planet?</p><p>As they mull the situation over, they become increasingly distressed, visibly shaking and curling away from the human. The human slumps back onto a cushy chair near the door, clearly frustrated. </p><p>The alien just barely notices the human as it leaves the room, still working themself into a panic-spiral. Would their Tallest ever come for them? Did they even know, even care that they were missing and unresponsive for who knows how long?</p><p>Their antennae smell it before the human comes in the door, and they snap out of their panic just in time for the human to walk in, carrying a disk of something warm, delicious-smelling.</p><p>"It's called bread. I heated some up for you," it states, offering the disk to the pale being before it. "You haven't eaten in days, and I figured you could use something to quickly help you feel better."</p><p>Tentatively, the alien reaches forward, antennae outstretched and sniffing the warm stuff on the plate. Earlier existentialism forgotten, they grab a roll and retreat, munching greedily. As soon as the bread touches their tongue, they spring into a series of light chirps, self-preservation lost for a moment while the human looks on, a relieved smile lifting its features. The alien finishes the roll quickly, and looks expectantly for another.</p><p>"Well, alright then."</p><p>The next half an hour passes slowly as the human sets about cleaning and re-stitching the alien's wounds. After setting up a chair beside the nest, it works to bring down the other's defenses. If it wasn't for these delicious breads, the alien thinks ruefully, chewing on the soft, warm insides of a roll and allowing the human to gentle scrape off the crusted blue blood on their skin. It gingerly regards the split in the alien's skin and offers another roll, hoping they would sit through the itchy sensation of stitches without putting up too much fuss. They snack on roll after roll, slowly filling the ache in their stomach and keeping their mind off the oppressing thought that the human, at any point, could just kill them. It wouldn't do that, right? Why give them so many breads if it was just going to kill them?</p><p>Finally, the human knots the last stitch and sits back. It looks tired.</p><p>"If you take these pills," it offers, grabbing them from another disk it had brought in, "the pain should feel a lot better. Here," he offered them the pills and a glass of water. "You swallow the pills, and then drink the water to help them go down."</p><p>The aliens does as it is instructed and sits, waiting. After a beat, it speaks. "Nothing is happening."</p><p>The human's eyes widen at their voice, then clears his throat. "Uh, yeah. It takes maybe 20 minutes to actually kick in, so you might need to wait a while." </p><p>There's a pause. </p><p>"Do you have a name?" the human asks. </p><p>Another pause. A lot of thoughts run through the alien's head, most of which accuse the human of wanting to know their deepest, darkest secrets so it can destroy them.</p><p>"I am called Sqit."</p><p>"Hmm, that's a cute name," the human smiles. "My name is Ben. How old are you?"</p><p>"Not that old. I emerged from pupa stage just three irk years ago, so I am currently 22 years of age."</p><p>Ben quirks an eyebrow, but decides to leave it for another day. "I'm 25."</p><p>There's another lull in the conversation, and Ben decides to bite the bullet. "So, why did you come to Earth?"</p><p>Sqit goes quiet, looking distant suddenly. "I did not mean to. I was on a mission to conquer a nearby galaxy, galaxy M31. It was to be my first solo invasion. On the way there, for whatever reason, my ship's autopilot must have malfunctioned or something. When I woke from hyper sleep, I was hurtling into this planet's atmosphere with only a few seconds' worth of warning."</p><p>Sqit snaps back into reality, suddenly intense. "Where is my ship?"</p><p>Ben, having processed this information reasonably well for what they could assume was the first alien-human contact, looks suddenly sympathetic. "It was real bad when I found you. You crash landed in a nature reserve just a few miles from here. A lot of your ship melted and some big chunks were missing once I got there. There was a lot of fire," it winces at the invader's expression. "I'm sorry."</p><p>Sqit tries to wrap their head around this. How much of it can be salvaged? Is there anything they could do to save it? Maybe the mechanics still work, maybe they can still save their connection to Irk, their connection to home-!</p><p>"I'm sorry, Sqit, but you aren't going out there." Ben calms, placing a hand on the alien's arm. They flinch away, so he retreats as well. "At least, not in this condition. You can barely move with causing yourself pain, and I don't want anyone else to see you."</p><p>Sqit wilts a little, curling up again. They pull away from the human.</p><p>"Hey, now," it sighs. "You're safe here with me. I have no intentions of hurting you, or anything like that. Maybe someone will notice that you're gone, and they'll come to rescue you. But, for now," Sqit looks back up at it, "I can teach you some of the cool things we do on Earth. Heck, maybe you'll even enjoy yourself!" </p><p>The pale alien mulls it over. Either way, they were kind of stuck here. The human said it itself, this was kin to a safe haven for them. Surely, their mothership will send for their rescue! Until then, they might as well not skulk and suffer until that time comes.</p><p>Suddenly, they realize that that suffocating ache is gone, for the most part. Those pain medications must be working...which subsequently means that the human is telling the truth. Sqit sighs.</p><p>"I suppose I could investigate the strangeness of this planet. As long as you promise you will take care of Sqit until the mothership comes to retrieve me, I promise I will," they yawn, "reward you handsomely when my salvation comes."</p><p>Ben laughs, standing up. "I don't know about that. But, if it really makes you feel better, oh mighty one, I promise I'll take care of you."</p><p>Sqit's body begins to feel as though the planet's gravity grows heavier, and they settle in further to their nest. At least it is comfortable here.</p><p>As those familiar curtains draw over their mind, the other speaks one last time. </p><p>"Goodnight, Spaceboy."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Heyo! This is my first official piece on Ao3, and I'm fairly happy with how it came out! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Of course, these are my original characters that are loosely based off of the Invader Zim series, so you aren't gonna find any canon characters in here. This is all pretty much self-indulgent, and I'll keep this work clean and free of sexual stuff. (Though, I may end up writing some of those kinds of pics in the future. ;) ) Thank you for giving this a read, let me know if you liked it, and stay tuned if you wanna see more of these two!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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